


The Tipping Point

by brokenpromisesandhope



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Author! Derek, Daddy! Derek, Daddy! Stiles, Fights, Future Fic, M/M, Marriage, Professor! Stiles, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-14
Updated: 2014-10-14
Packaged: 2018-02-21 03:21:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2452874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokenpromisesandhope/pseuds/brokenpromisesandhope
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They don't even go grocery shopping that often okay??</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Tipping Point

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm working on 80 fics right now but I was at Cub and saw this couple hunting for their car and this showed up. (I got way carried away)  
> Comment/kudos for more!!!!!  
> Xx  
> T  
> 10-15-15: if people really want more of this I'll continue.

"Where's the car?"  
"I was following you!"  
"You're kidding right?"  
"No Derek, I'm not kidding."  
Derek makes a rude noise, bracing one hand on the grocery cart and digging in his jean pocket for the keys.  
"You really have no clue where it is?"  
"No I don't, you're the one who drove!"  
"Do you not pay attention at all?"  
"I was double checking the grocery list!" He says exasperatedly. 

Stiles and Derek didn't like to go grocery shopping often, it didn't fit with their schedule. Two kids under five, a dog, Stiles teaching full time and Derek helping the nanny with the kids and trying to finish his novel, there wasn't enough time in the day. Since they didn't go often, this meant Stiles had to plan their meals and snacks to a tee, because there was nothing he hated more than when he had a half pan of lasagna made, but ran out of cheese. (Yes that had happened, on more than one occasion. ) The trips also lasted over an hour, mostly because every time Derek asked for something, Stiles got distracted and their cart kept piling up. 

So, it was a busy ass Thursday night at their local Cub Foods, Stiles wanted nothing more than to get home, eat a slice of homemade pizza he'd left for the babysitter to cook while they were gone and watch Scandal, and Derek couldn't find the damn car.  
"Can't you use the little beepy tracky thingy?" Stiles asks, waving a hand.  
"No, we didn't buy that remember? You thought it was stupid."  
Stiles lets out an offended gasp,  
"Like I could make you do anything you didn't want to do Derek Hale!" 

Derek calmly starts listing points on his fingers,  
"Move back here, buy a five bedroom house, buy a dog, quit my job-"  
"You wanted those things too!" Stiles all but shouts. A woman raises her eyebrows at him, wrapping her arms tighter around herself and rushing to the door. 

It's a cold night, rain is misting down and even in his plaid shirt he's getting cold.  
"I'm freezing. Let's just find this damn car and argue at home."  
"If you would have worn a sweatshirt like I told you-"  
"Oh shut it. I'm not four."  
"No because if you were four, you'd actually listen to me like our daughter."  
"That's because Belle's a Daddy's girl and does everything you say."  
"At least someone in our house listens to me."  
"What is it, bitch about your life night? Cause I didn't get the memo. Trust me, my life isn't all sunshine and fucking rainbows either. For prime example, I'm freezing my ass off in this parking lot because my dumb husband forgot where he parked the car!" He says, throwing his hands up in the air as they walk down another random aisle. 

"Can't you just sniff it out or something? Put those werewolf senses to good use."  
Derek let's out an annoyed huff and pauses, standing on his tiptoes a bit and scanning the parking lot. He doesn't see the gleam of their white Toyota anywhere. Shit. Stiles for once is quiet, arms wrapped around his waist, trying not to shudder. It isn't cold enough to bother Derek, but he knows the cold is taking a toll on his husband. As it should have, it's been fifteen fucking minutes. 

He sighs and takes off his leather jacket, handing to Stiles. It's not cold enough for him to need it, but he wears it the second it turns a little too cold, because that's the only time Stiles let's him, says it makes him look creepy otherwise. Stiles wraps himself in the coat, but crosses his arms over his chest, letting Derek know he's still pissed.  
"Do you want to wait inside? I'll swing the car around when I find it-"  
"I'm not an invalid." He snaps. Derek sighs, knowing he's in for a long night. 

A few minutes later, they've finally spotted the car, and Stiles huffs in relief.  
"Thank god, I was beginning to think we'd be here all night."  
"Think you're overreacting." Derek says, unlocking the car.  
"Must be getting old there Der, if you can't even remember where you parked the car after a short grocery trip." Stiles snarks, because he can't stop picking. Can't stop remembering what Derek said about Stiles making him do things he doesn't want. If he didn't want a house, or a dog, did he want Belle and Ben? Did he even want Stiles? 

"Actually, I was just trying to get my husband's attention from a grocery list, because apparently that's more important than me these days."  
"That's not true and you know it." Stiles says, unpacking another bag of groceries into the trunk.  
"How would I know? The hours you work are ridiculous, I'm only up when you leave because I work out, and you barely make it home for dinner most nights."  
"Sorry that I have to work!"  
"You don't have to work that much." Derek mumbles. 

"How would you know? When was the last time you looked at the mortgage? The cell phone bill? I have to pay for everything! The house, the phones, the cable, the nanny! All of that, it's on me! My paycheck! You wanna know why? Because you quit your job to be a writer and you can't even finish a fucking book!" He shouts.  
And that's it. Their marriage had been sitting on the peak for so long. So so long and it just fell. 

Stiles feels like he can't breathe which is actually humorous to him because he's the one who said the horrible awful disgusting vile thing and he feels like he's going to collapse.  
"I-I" He feels like he needs to say something, anything except he knows there's nothing he can say. The worst part is that Derek just stands there. Staring Stiles straight in his face. Stiles can't even lie and say that a little part of him doesn't believe that at all, because Derek heard his heart beat through it all. 

"I'm going to walk." Derek says, pressing the keys into Stiles' hand, careful not to touch his skin.  
"D-"  
But he's already walking away and not looking back. 

Stiles is fully expecting to wake up to divorce papers on the pillow beside him. He'd come home to an empty house, confused babysitter and fussy Belle. Her brown hair was still in braids from the morning, and he knew one of the reasons she wasn't fast asleep was that they squeezed her head too tightly. He unbraided her hair and sang to her, but he couldn't quite hit the notes like Derek and she whined over and over for her daddy. He couldn't help but think the same thing. 

Eventually she fell asleep,  
"Only if you sleep with me poppa."  
By the time Stiles had emailed his colleagues to find him a sub for the morning, and sent out a mass email to his students saying his office would be closed, Derek still wasn't home. He sat in the shower and cried until the water runs cold.  
He doesn't sleep at all. He sits in bed and wonders why he's such a god awful person. Picking over every awful stupid thing he's ever said in his life, and deciding this is the worst. 

Derek pounds on her door so hard, even his hand aches.  
"Geez eager are we?" Cora coos, opening the door.  
"Jesus what the fuck?!" Derek cries throwing his hands over his eyes. Very low on his list of things he wanted to do in his life, underneath being tortured by Kate Argent again, was seeing his sister in baby blue lingerie that left very little to imagine. Very little. Like he's pretty sure he saw areola. He shudders, god. 

"I thought you were! Doesn't matter. What the hell are you doing here?"  
Derek pushes past her, he came here for a reason and he needs to write it down before he forgets.  
"Pen and paper. Pen and paper! Do you have one?"  
Cora stares at him, arms covering her chest, confused.  
"Um, anything I have is in that drawer." 

And that's how Derek fishes his first novel, at 4:17 in the morning, on his sister's couch, in purple crayola marker on coffee stained notebook paper.

Stiles wakes up and pretends he's not falling apart. Pretends he doesn't hate himself and that he knows that Derek's coming back. It's hard when there's two little humans dependent on him and wanting to him to make his famous strawberry pancakes because they don't understand why he's home on a day that's not the weekend. They don't understand where Daddy is. 

He let's them help with breakfast, even though it'll mean another bath before they can do anything else, and it distracts from their questions for a bit. Well from Belle's questions, she's always been too smart for her own good. Mostly Ben just smiles a lot and tugs on Stiles' hair. 

It's almost noon and Stiles is going crazy. He hasn't called Derek, he's giving him space because lord knows that's what Stiles would want. Stiles doesn't even know if he would be able to give Derek had the roles been reversed. That scares him more than anything. 

"You're gonna hurt yourself." Derek mumbles, taking the block of cheese and grater out of Stiles' hand. He'd been shredding cheese for homemade macaroni and cheese and he must have fallen asleep. The house was quiet, both kids taking a nap, Pumpkin asleep near the fireplace.  
"I didn't-" Stiles sits up, cracking his neck. "Sorry."  
Derek sets the stuff down on the counter and hands Stiles a pile of papers. 

"What's this?" Stiles asks, voice soft.  
"I finished it."  
"Finished what? Your book, oh! Derek I-"  
"Just read it." He says roughly.  
Stiles blinks back tears,  
"Derek please-"  
"I've gotta go."  
"Derek," Stiles chokes.  
"Just read it Stiles."  
And then he's gone.

**Author's Note:**

> Still debating whether to continue this.


End file.
